


Dusk Rising

by weissisms (edgeworthtbh)



Series: Twilight Rewritten [1]
Category: Twilight Series - All Media Types, Twilight Series - Stephenie Meyer
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon Rewrite, F/M, Rewriting the books as I go
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-10
Updated: 2019-08-26
Packaged: 2020-06-25 16:54:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 11,994
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19749865
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/edgeworthtbh/pseuds/weissisms
Summary: About three things she was absolutely positive.First, Edward was a vampire.Second, there was a part of him—and she didn't know how dominant that part might be—that thirsted for her blood.And third, she was unconditionally and irrevocably in love with him.Everything you knew about Twilight, but better ! Lots of changes were made to the canon, lore, backstories, etc.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> First off, sorry for not getting to my other fics. I've been sucked back into Twilight.
> 
> Secondly, I decided to go canon divergent with the entire Twilight series. There’s a lot wrong with it. The story has a lot of potential and I decided to try my hand at improving it. I’m sure there are thousands of rewrites but what’s one more? 
> 
> I apologize for how long chapters are. I'm going chapter by chapter, so... apologies for that.
> 
> I have an outline of changes I'm making, which you can find: [here!](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1btgndq9KBpDzr4HVLZJ_Fiooel23MOQ7z5HiZR_surk/edit?usp=sharing)

**PREFACE**

_She had never given much thought to how she would die, but even if she had, she certainly hadn’t imagined it would go like this._

_She stood across the long room, staring into the eyes of the hunter, a chill passing down her spine as she readied herself._

_Surely it was a good way to die, sacrificing herself for someone else. It was brave, it was selfless, noble, even. Was it the right choice? Who would know._

_She knew in her heart that if she hadn’t gone to Forks, she wouldn't be facing death now. Even as terrified as she was, though, she couldn't bring herself to regret the decision._

_The hunter smiled sweetly, a wicked glint in his eyes as he sauntered forward._

**CHAPTER 1**

Reneé drove to the airport with the windows rolled down. It was a pleasant seventy-five degrees in Phoenix, the sky a perfect, cloudless blue, the sun glittering. 

Bella resided in the passenger’s seat, wearing her favorite sleeveless, white eyelet lace shirt, a pair of faded blue jeans, and a flannel sweater wrapped around her hips. Where she was headed, she was going to need it. 

In the Olympic Peninsula of northwest Washington State, a small town named Forks existed under a near-constant cover of clouds. It rained here more than any other place in the United States. It was from this town and its gloomy, omnipresent shade that Reneé escaped with her daughter when she was only a few months old. It was in this town that Bella had been compelled to spend a month every summer until she was fourteen. That was the year she couldn’t take the doom and gloom of the town and finally put her foot down. Now, these past three summers, Charlie, her father, vacationed with her in California for two weeks instead.

It was to Forks that she returned, despite her qualms with Forks. She loved Phoenix, with the bright, cheerful sun. She adored the vigorous, sprawling city. It made it feel alive. Forks? She hated Forks. She hated the rain, the neverending clouds, the absence of the sun. She hated the silence, the fact that it felt like a ghost town. There was practically no life here, and she didn’t understand how anyone could tolerate it. Unfortunately, there was a reason she was coming to stay.

"Bella," Reneé sighed once again before Bella boarded the plane. "You don't have to do this." 

Bella felt a sliver of anxiety as she stared at her mother. She didn’t want to leave her mother, she didn’t want to leave the only thing she ever knew, but she needed this. She needed time away, time to think, to get her bearings, to figure herself out. She needed to do this. 

"I want to go.” She promised, and she did. This was for her own good.

"Tell Charlie I said hi."

"I will."

"I'll see you soon," she insisted. "You can come home whenever you want - I'll come right back as soon as you need me." She told Bella with a warm smile, but the teenager could see the sacrifice in her eyes behind the promise.

"Don't worry about me," Bella reassured. "It'll be great. I love you, Mom."

The pair hugged tightly for a minute, then Bella boarded the plane.

It was a four-hour flight from Phoenix to Seattle, another hour in a small plane up to Port Angeles, and then an hour drive back down to Forks. Flying didn’t bother her much, it wasn’t the first time, and it certainly wouldn’t be the last. The hour in the car with Charlie, though, was what had her worried. 

She loved her father, she did, and she was a bit eager to catch up with him, but she knew that he was confused by her abrupt decision to move in with him. Of course, Charlie had really been fairly nice about the whole thing. He seemed genuinely pleased that Bella was coming to live with him. He had even registered her for highschool and was going to help her get a car. The thing was, neither of them knew what to say to each other, and it left the silences more than just awkward. 

When she landed in Port Angeles, it was raining. Figures. She wanted to be surprised, but she wasn’t. 

Charlie was waiting for her with the cruiser, which she also wasn’t surprised by.

Charlie was Police Chief Ortiz in Forks. Bella’s main reason for buying a car, aside from not having enough money, was that she refused to be driven around town in a cop car. 

Charlie gave the girl an awkward, one-armed hug when she stumbled her way off the plane.

"It's good to see you, Bells," he sighed, smiling as he automatically caught and steadied her. "You haven't changed much. How's Renée?"

"Mom's fine. It's good to see you, too, Dad." 

Bella had only a few bags. Most of her clothes were too permeable for Washington, so Reneé and Bella had pooled their resources to buy Bella some winter clothes.

"I found a good car for you, really cheap," Charlie announced when they were in the car.

"What kind of car?" Bella asked, eyeing him suspiciously.

"Well, it's a truck actually, a Chevy."

"Where did you find it?"

"Do you remember Billy Black?"

"No."

"He used to go fishing with us during the summer," Charlie prompted.

Well, that would explain why she didn't remember him. She did a good job of blocking painful, unnecessary things from her memory.

"He's in a wheelchair now," Charlie continued when she didn't respond, "so he can't drive anymore, and he offered to sell me his truck cheap."

"What year is it?" Bella could see from his change of expression that that was the question he was hoping she wouldn't ask.

"Well, Billy's done a lot of work on the engine - it's only a few years old, really."

Bella hoped he didn't think so little of her as to believe she would give up that easily. "When did he buy it?"

"He bought it in 1984, I think."

"Did he buy it new?"

"Well, no. I think it was new in the early sixties - or late fifties at the earliest," he admitted sheepishly.

"Ch - Dad, I don't really know anything about cars. I wouldn't be able to fix it if anything went wrong, and I couldn't afford a mechanic..."

"Really, Bella, the thing runs great. They don't build them like that anymore."

"How cheap is cheap?" 

"Well, honey, I kind of already bought it for you. As a homecoming gift." Charlie peeked sideways at Bella with a hopeful expression.

She hadn’t been expecting that, if she was honest. She sighed, "you didn't need to do that, Dad. I was going to buy myself a car."

"I don't mind. I want you to be happy here." He was looking ahead at the road when he said that. Charlie wasn't comfortable with expressing his emotions out loud. Bella had inherited that from him. 

"That's really nice, Dad. Thanks. I really appreciate it." No need to add that her being happy in Forks was an impossibility. He didn't need to suffer along with her. Besides, who could say no to a free truck?

"Well, now, you're welcome," he mumbled, embarrassed by her thanks, which made her smirk a bit in reaction.

They exchanged a few more comments on the weather, and then it all fell silent, save for the rain hitting the car.

It was beautiful, Bella couldn't deny that. Everything was green: the trees, mossy tree trunks, their branches hanging with a canopy of it, the ground covered with ferns. It was a massive change to the dry Azironian land, with sand, dirty, some trees, rare grass and copious amounts of cacti.

Eventually they made it to Charlie's. He still lived in the small, two-bedroom house that he'd bought with Reneé in the early days of their marriage. There, parked on the street in front of the house that never changed, was Bella’s new truck. It was a faded red color, with big, rounded fenders and a bulbous cab. 

To her surprise, she found that she loved it. Granted, she didn't know if it would even **run** , but she could see herself in it. 

"Wow, Dad, I love it! Thanks!" This made tomorrow much more bearable. She wouldn't be faced with the choice of either walking two miles in the rain to school or accepting a ride in the Chief's cruiser.

"I'm glad you like it," Charlie said gruffly, embarrassed again.

It only took one trip to get all of Bella’s stuff upstairs. She had gotten the west bedroom that looked over the front yard. The room was familiar; it had been belonged to her since she was born. The wooden floor, the light blue walls, the peaked ceiling, the yellowed lace curtains around the window, the rocking chair in the corner; it was all nostalgic. The only changes Charlie had ever made were switching the crib for a bed and adding a desk as she got older. The desk now held a second-hand computer, with the phone line for the modem stapled along the floor to the nearest phone jack. 

There was only one small bathroom at the top of the stairs, which Bella would have to share with Charlie. That was going to take time to get used to. 

One of the best things about Charlie was that he didn't hover. He left Bella alone to unpack and get settled, a feat that would have been altogether impossible for Reneé. It was nice to be alone, not to have to smile and look pleased; a relief to stare dejectedly out the window at the sheeting rain and let just a few tears escape. She wasn't in the mood to go on a real crying jag. She would save that for bedtime, when she would have to think about the coming morning. She knew she needed this, but a huge part of her was already regretting her decision.

Forks High School had a frightening total of only three hundred and fifty-seven - now fifty-eight - students; there were more than seven hundred people in Bella’s junior class alone back in Phoenix. All of the kids here had grown up together - their grandparents had been toddlers together. She wasn’t going to fit in at all. 

She would be the new girl from the big city; a curiosity, a freak. Not only that, but this place was home to mostly white people. It wasn’t exactly known for its diversity — as far as she knew anyway.

When Bella finished putting her clothes in the dresser and closet, she took her bag of bathroom necessities and went to the communal bathroom to clean herself up after the day of travel. She looked at her face in the mirror as she brushed through tangled, damp curly hair. 

Bella was every bit like her mother. She was tall, had soft brown skin with constellations of freckles everywhere, and deep chocolate hues. The only difference between the two was that Reneé’s unruly brown curls were barely to her shoulders, whereas Bella’s fell to her mid-back. 

The teenager winced at the knots and tangles, managing to get them out after a good while of yanking.

Facing her reflection in the mirror, she was forced to admit that she was lying to herself. It wasn't just physically that she would never fit in, she didn't relate to people her age. Hell, she didn’t relate to most people at all. Even her mother, who she was closer to than anyone else on the planet, was never in harmony with Bella, never exactly on the same page. Sometimes she wondered if she was even seeing the same thing as everyone else. Either way, she could feel that things weren’t going to go well tomorrow. 

She didn't sleep well that night, even after she had cried herself to exhaustion. The constant beating of the rain and the howling wind across the roof wouldn't fade into the background. She tried to drown out the sound with music from her phone, but she couldn’t fall asleep until after midnight, when the rain finally settled into a quieter drizzle.

Thick fog was all she could see out her window the next morning, and she could feel the claustrophobia creeping up on her.

Breakfast with Charlie was a quiet event. He wished Bella good luck at school, then left for work. 

After he left, Bella sat at the old square oak table in one of the three unmatching chairs and examined his small kitchen, with its dark paneled walls, bright yellow cabinets, and white linoleum floor. Nothing had changed. Reneé had painted the cabinets eighteen years ago in an attempt to bring some sunshine into the house. Over the small fireplace in the adjoining handkerchief-sized family room was a row of pictures. First, a wedding picture of Charlie and Reneé in Las Vegas, then one of the three of them in the hospital after Bella was born, taken by a helpful nurse, followed by the procession of Bella’s school pictures up to last year's. Those were embarrassing to look at - she would have to see what she could do to get Charlie to put them somewhere else, at least while she was living there.

Bella didn't want to be too early to school, but she couldn't stay in the house anymore. She threw on a leather jacket and headed out into the rain.

It was just drizzling still, not enough to soak her through immediately as she reached for the house key that was always hidden, and locked up. The sloshing and thud of her boots was unnerving. She missed the normal crunch of gravel or dirt and sand as she walked. 

She couldn't pause and admire her truck again as she wanted. She was in a hurry to get out of the misty wet that already clung to her hair.

Inside the truck, it was nice and dry. Either Billy or Charlie had obviously cleaned it up, but the tan upholstered seats still smelled faintly of tobacco, gasoline, and peppermint. The engine started quickly but loudly, roaring to life and then idling at top volume. It wasn’t so bad, though, not like she had been expecting it to be. 

Finding the school wasn't difficult, though she had never been there before. The school was just off the highway. It didn’t look like an ordinary school, rather it looked like a collection of matching houses, built with maroon-colored bricks. There were so many trees and shrubs, Bella couldn't see its size at first. 

Bella parked in front of the first building, which had a small sign over the door reading front office. No one else was parked there, so she was sure it was off limits, but she decided she would get directions inside instead of circling around in the rain. 

She stepped unwillingly out of the toasty truck cab and walked down a little stone path lined with dark hedges. She took a deep breath before opening the door. Inside, it was brightly lit, and warmer than she had assumed. The office was small; a little waiting area with padded folding chairs, orange-flecked commercial carpet, notices and awards cluttering the walls, and a big clock ticking loudly. Plants grew everywhere in large plastic pots, as if there wasn't enough greenery outside. The room was cut in half by a long counter, cluttered with wire baskets full of papers and brightly colored flyers taped to its front. There were three desks behind the counter, one of which was manned by a large, red-haired woman wearing glasses. She was wearing a purple t-shirt, which immediately made Bella feel overdressed.

The red-haired woman looked up. "Can I help you?"

"I'm Isabella Ortiz," Bella informed her, and saw the immediate awareness light her eyes. Bella was expected, a topic of gossip no doubt. Daughter of the Chief's flighty ex-wife, come home at last.

"Of course," she said. She dug through a precariously stacked pile of documents on her desk till she found the ones she was looking for. "I have your schedule right here, and a map of the school." She brought several sheets to the counter. She went through Bella’s classes for her, highlighting the best route to each on the map, and gave her a slip to have each teacher sign, which Bella was to bring back at the end of the day. She smiled at the student and hoped, like Charlie, that Bella would like it here in Forks.

Bella smiled back as convincingly as she could before ducking out of the office. On her way to her truck, other students were starting to arrive. Bella drove around the school, following the line of traffic. She was eternally glad to see that most of the cars were older like hers, nothing flashy. 

Back in Phoenix, Bella had lived in one of the few lower-income neighborhoods that were included in the Paradise Valley District. It was a common thing to see a new Mercedes or Porsche in the student lot. The nicest car here was a shiny Volvo, and it stood out. 

Bella cut the engine as soon as she was in a spot, so that the thunderous volume wouldn't draw attention to her.

She looked at the map in the truck, trying to memorize it. Having a good handle on where everything might be, she stuffed everything into her backpack, slung the strap over her shoulder, and took a deep breath. 

_I can do this,_ she tried to psyche herself up, then stepped out of the truck.

She kept her face shielded by her dark curly hair as she walked to the sidewalk, crowded with other teenagers.

Once she got around the cafeteria, building three was easy to spot. A large black "3" was painted on a white square on the east corner.

Bella felt her anxiety slowly creep up on her as she approached the door. She tried taking slow breaths as she followed a couple of students through the door.

The classroom was small. The people in front of Bella stopped just inside the door to hang up their coats on a long row of hooks. They were two girls, both pale, one with golden-blonde hair, the other with light brown hair. Bella wasn’t so surprised to see how pale they were. This place clearly never got any sun.

Bella took the slip up to the teacher, a tall, balding man whose desk had a nameplate identifying him as Mr. Mason. He gawked at her when he saw her name, and her cheeks flushed a deep, embarrassed red. 

He sent her to an empty desk at the back without introducing her to the class. She sighed in relief, though it only lasted for a second. Some students couldn’t help but stare at her, and she kept her head ducked, brown eyes glaring at the reading list, waiting to stop being looked at like a zoo animal. 

When the bell rang later, a Korean boy with a slight case of acne and black hair leaned across the aisle to talk to Bella.

"Hey, you're Isabella Ortiz, aren't you?" He asked eagerly.

"Bella," she corrected. Everyone within a three-seat radius turned to look at her as she did so, but she ignored them as best as she could.

"Where's your next class?" he asked.

"Um, Government, with Jefferson, in building six." There was nowhere to look without meeting curious eyes, and she hated it. Why were people always like this? 

"I'm headed toward building four, I could show you the way. I'm Eric," he introduced.

Taking a deep breath, Bella nodded. Okay, this wasn’t so bad. He seemed nice, a bit too eager, but he seemed to be good company.

She smiled, shoulders relaxing for the first time. “Sure, thanks."

They got up and headed out into the rain, which had picked up, unsurprisingly. Bella could have sworn several people behind them were walking close enough to eavesdrop. She huffed quietly to herself if that was the case. Why were people so nosy? Was it really this rare to get a new person in town?

"So, this is a lot different than Phoenix, huh?" he asked.

She nodded, pursing her lips. "Very."

"It doesn't rain much there, does it?"

"Three or four times a year."

"Wow, what must that be like?" he wondered.

"Sunny," She shrugged.

"Oh… I heard it gets really hot down there. How do you stand it? I visited Florida once a few years back and I thought I was going to melt."

“I guess growing up in the south has its perks. I’ve always been out in the sun, even as a kid, so I guess I got used to it.” She answered, finding that she liked his company. She hoped that other students were as nice as him.

Eric walked her right to the door, though it was clearly marked. 

"Well, good luck," he said as she touched the handle. "Maybe we'll have some other classes together." He sounded hopeful.

She nodded with a soft smile, “that’d be great.” She answered and went inside.

The rest of the morning went by in a similar manner. Bella’s Trigonometry teacher, Mr. Varner, was the only one who made her stand in front of the class and introduce herself. She stammered, blushed, and tripped over her own boots on the way to her seat. It was humiliating, and she swore her cheeks wouldn’t stop burning until the bell rang. 

After two classes, Bella started to recognize several of the faces in each class. There was always someone braver than the others who would introduce themselves and ask her questions about how she was liking Forks. She tried to be diplomatic, but most of the time, she lied or pretended.

One girl, Jessica, sat next to Bella in both Trigonometry and Spanish, and she walked with her to the cafeteria for lunch. She was tiny, several inches shorter than Bella’s five feet ten inches. She had wildly curly dark hair just like Bella’s, except hers was tied up in a puffy ponytail, and Bella found she was a joy to talk to, especially when Jessica brought attention to their hair. Jessica complained about how her hair would get tangled five seconds after brushing it, and Bella found herself venting with her and actually enjoying their conversation.

They sat at the end of a full table with several of her friends, who she introduced to Bella. The boy from English, Eric, waved at Bella from across the table.

It was there, sitting in the lunchroom, trying to make conversation with seven curious strangers, that Bella first saw them.

They were sitting in the corner of the cafeteria, as far away from where Bella sat as possible. There were five of them. They weren't talking, and they weren't eating, though they each had a tray of untouched food in front of them. They weren't gawking at Bella, unlike most of the other students, so it was safe to stare at them without fear of meeting an excessively interested pair of eyes. 

However, none of these things caught her attention.

What caught her attention was the fact that they didn't look anything alike. Of the three boys, one was dark with the body of a champion weightlifter and dark, curly hair like Bella’s. The second was taller and leaner, with fair skin and honey blonde hair. The last was lanky, with messy, bronze-colored hair. He was more boyish than the others, who looked like they could be in college, or even teachers.

The girls were opposites. 

One was tall, tan, had a beautiful figure, and golden, wavy hair falling to the middle of her back. The other girl was short, like Jessica, but very pixie-like; thin in the extreme, with small features, and pale. Her hair was a deep black, cropped short and pointing in every direction to match her pixie aesthetic.

What stood out to Bella, aside their unearthly beauty, was that they all had very dark eyes. They also had dark bags and rings under their eyes, as if they hadn’t slept in weeks. Bella couldn’t blame them if that were the case, high school was a nightmare with tons of assignments and tests. 

Still, despite their exhausted appearance, they looked amazing. It was hard to decide who was the most beautiful; maybe the perfect blond girl, or the bronze-haired boy? 

They were all looking away; away from each other, away from the other students, away from anything in particular as far as Bella could tell. 

As she watched, the pixie girl rose with her tray and walked away with a quick, graceful lope that belonged on a runway. Bella watched, amazed at her lithe dancer's step, then the girl dumped her tray and glided through the back door, faster than Bella would have thought possible. 

Dark hues darted back to the others, who sat unchanging. 

"Who are they?" Bella asked Jessica, brows lifted, though she didn’t tear her gaze away.

As Jessica looked up to see what Bella was talking about, suddenly the boyish one looked up and over at Jessica for just a fraction of a second, and then his dark eyes flicked to Bella’s. He looked away quickly.

Jessica rubbed the back of her neck with a sigh. "That's Edward and Emmett Cullen,” she pointed to the boyish one and the muscular one respectively, “and Rosalie and Jasper Hale.” She pointed to the two blondes. “The one who left was Alice Cullen; they all live together with Dr. Cullen and his wife." 

Bella glanced sideways at the one named Edward, who was looking at his tray, now picking a bagel to pieces with long, pale fingers. His mouth was moving very quickly, his perfect lips barely opening.

"They’re uh... very nice-looking." Bella struggled. She didn’t want to sound creepy for talking about how beautiful they were.

"Yes!" Jessica agreed with another giggle, taking Bella by surprise. "They're all together though. Well, Emmett and Rosalie, and Jasper and Alice, I mean. It’s kinda funny, because they live together." 

"Which ones are the Cullens?" Bella asked. "They don't look related..."

"Oh, they're not. Dr. Cullen is really young, in his twenties or early thirties. They're all adopted. The Hales are brother and sister, twins, and they're foster children."

"They look a little old for foster children." Bella commented before she could stop herself.

"They are now, Jasper and Rosalie are both eighteen, but they've been with Mrs. Cullen since they were eight. She's their aunt or something like that."

"That's really nice of them, especially when they're so young and everything."

"I guess so," Jessica admitted reluctantly, and Bella got the impression that she didn't like the doctor and his wife for some reason. With the glances she was throwing at their adopted children, Bella would assume the reason was jealousy. "I think that Mrs. Cullen can't have any kids, though," she added, as if that lessened their kindness. That didn’t sit right with Bella. 

Throughout all this conversation, Bella’s eyes darted repeatedly to the table where the strange family sat. They continued to look at the walls and not eat, barely even conversing.

"Have they always lived in Forks?" Bella asked.

"No," she said, as if it were obvious. "They just moved down two years ago from somewhere in Alaska."

Bella nodded, relieved but also saddened for them. It was disappointing that these people were so isolated, but it was a relief because at least she wasn’t the only ‘outsider’ here.

As Bella studied them, Edward looked up and met her gaze, this time with curiosity in his expression. Bella hurriedly looked away. It seemed that his glance held some sort of surprise and expectation, and she wasn’t sure why that was.

"So which one is the boy with the reddish brown hair again?" Bella asked as she peeked at him from the corner of her eye. He was still staring at her, but not gawking like the other students had today, no, his stare seemed frustrated. Weird. Did she do something to offend him?

"That's Edward. He's gorgeous, of course, but don't waste your time. He doesn't date. Apparently none of the girls here are good-looking enough for him." Jessica huffed.

Bella bit her lip to hide her smile, then she glanced at Edward again. His face was turned away, but it looked like he was smiling too.

After a few more minutes, the four of them left the table together. They all were noticeably graceful - even the big, brawny one. It was unsettling to watch. Edward didn't look at Bella again as he passed.

Bella sat at the table with Jessica and her friends longer than she would have if she had been sitting alone. She was anxious not to be late for class on her first day. 

One of Bella’s new acquaintances, Angela, had Biology II with her the next hour, and they walked to class together in silence. She was shy, too. It was adorable, if Bella was being honest. 

When they entered the classroom, Angela went to sit at a black-topped lab table. She already had a neighbor, unfortunately. In fact, all the tables were filled but one. Next to the center aisle, Bella recognized Edward by his unusual hair, sitting next to that single open seat.

Sighing and steeling her nerves, she walked down the aisle to introduce herself to the teacher and get her slip signed. She glanced over at Edward, and just as she passed the fan, he suddenly went rigid in his seat. He stared at the girl again, meeting her eyes with a hostile expression on his face this time. Bella nearly gasped and looked away quickly, going red again. She stumbled over a book in the walkway and had to catch herself on the edge of a table. She noticed that his eyes were black - coal black, and that unsettled her.

Mr. Banner signed Bella’s slip and handed her a book with no nonsense about introductions. He gestured to the open desk, and Bella kept her eyes down as she went to sit by Edward, bewildered by the antagonistic stare she had received. 

She took a deep breath, refusing to look up as she set her book on the table and took her seat. His posture changed, leaning away from her, and sitting on the extreme edge of his stool, averting his face like he smelled something horrible. 

Inconspicuously, she sniffed her hair. It smelled like strawberries. It seemed an innocent enough odor, so why was he acting so weird? She let her curls fall over her shoulder, making a curtain between them, and tried to pay attention to the teacher. Unfortunately the lecture was on cellular anatomy, something she had already studied. She grumbled quietly, taking notes anyway, just to keep herself busy. 

Bella couldn't stop herself from peeking occasionally through the shield of hair at the strange boy next to her. During the whole class period, he never once relaxed his stiff position on the edge of his chair, sitting as far away from Bella as possible. She could see his hand on his left leg, clenched into a tight fist, tendons standing out under his pale skin. 

He had the long sleeves of his white shirt pushed up to his elbows, and his forearm was surprisingly hard and muscular beneath his light skin. He wasn't nearly as slight as he had looked next to his burly brother.

The class seemed to drag on longer than the others. He continued to sit so still it looked like he wasn't breathing. What was wrong with him? Was this his normal behavior? 

Bella briefly questioned her judgment on Jessica's bitterness at lunch. Maybe she wasn’t as resentful as she had assumed. 

She peeked up at him one more time, and regretted it. He was glaring down at her again, his black eyes full of revulsion. She flinched away from him, shrinking against her chair. If looks could kill.

At that moment, the bell rang loudly, making her jump, and Edward was out of his seat and out the door before anyone else was out of their seats.

Bella sat frozen in her seat for a moment, staring after him, her brows furrowing. What was his problem? She didn’t do anything to him. She didn’t even know him, he didn’t even know her. 

Bella sighed, then began gathering up her things slowly, trying to block the anger that filled her. She hated being angry, because it always led her to crying, and she hated crying.

"Aren't you Isabella Ortiz?" a male voice asked.

The girl whipped her head up to see a cute, baby-faced boy, his pale blond hair carefully gelled into orderly spikes, smiling at her in a friendly way. 

"Bella," she corrected him with a soft sigh.

"I'm Mike. Hey, do you need any help finding your next class?"

"I'm headed to the gym, actually. I think I can find it."

"That's my next class, too." He seemed thrilled. Oh well, he seemed nice too, so it wouldn’t be a crime to walk with him.

Unsurprisingly, he was quite a talker, which Bella didn’t mind. He rambled about everything; about how he lived in California until he was ten, so he knew how she felt about the sun. 

It turned out he was in her English class, too, with Eric. Huh, guess despite all of that weird nonsense with Edward and all the stares —which were dying down now—, her first day wasn’t going so bad.

Mike nudged Bella with his elbow, a smirk on his lips as he asked, "so, did you stab Edward Cullen with a pencil or what? I've never seen him act like that."

She sighed, shaking her head, causing her curls to bounce. She wasn't the only one who had noticed, and apparently, that wasn't Edward's usual behavior. It still grated her nerves though, that he had gotten so upset by her.

"I don't know," she shrugged. "I never spoke to him."

"He's a weird guy." Mike rolled his eyes a bit. "If I were lucky enough to sit by you, I would have talked to you." He grinned.

Bella scoffed and rolled her eyes, though it was halfheartedly. “Thanks, Mike.” She smiled, before walking through the girls' locker room door. Mike was friendly and clearly admiring, but sadly, she was still frustrated about the whole Edward situation.

The Gym teacher, Coach Clapp, found her a uniform but didn't make her dress down for today's class. 

The final bell rang at last, and Bella walked briskly to the office to return her paperwork. The rain had drifted away, but the wind was strong, and colder. She huffed and wrapped her arms around herself.

When she walked into the warm office, she almost turned around and walked back out.

Edward stood at the desk in front of her. She recognized that tousled bronze hair anywhere now. He didn't appear to notice the sound of her entrance, though. 

Bella stood pressed against the back wall, waiting for the receptionist to be free.

He was arguing with her in a low voice, and Bella quickly picked up the gist of the argument. He was trying to trade from sixth-hour Biology to another time - any other time.

She rolled her eyes, a scoff leaving her again. Incredible. He was really being this petty about her being in the same class as him. She didn’t even do anything to him, and yet, here he was, nearly begging the receptionist to change his schedule just so he can get away from her. What garbage.

The door opened again, and the cold wind gusted through the room, rustling the papers on the desk, swirling Bella’s hair around her face. 

The girl who came in merely stepped to the desk, placed a note in the wire basket, and walked out again. 

Edward's back stiffened, and he turned slowly to glare at Bella with piercing, hate-filled eyes. She clenched her jaw and glared back, despite the sliver of genuine fear and anxiety. The look only lasted a second, chilling her to the core, then he turned back to the receptionist.

"Never mind, then," he said hastily. "I can see that it's impossible. Thank you so much for your help." He snarked, and he turned on his heel without another look at Bella, disappearing out the door.

She growled quietly under her breath, then approached the desk and handed the signed slip over.

"How did your first day go, dear?" the receptionist asked maternally.

"Alright," Bella mumbled, glancing over her shoulder at the door, a frown on her lips. The receptionist didn't look convinced.

When Bella got to the truck, it was almost the last car in the lot. She sat inside for a while, just staring out the windshield blankly. When it was cold enough to need the heater, she turned the key and the engine roared to life. She headed back to Charlie's house, fighting tears the whole way there as her anger brewed in her stomach. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hewwo hewwo :3 here's chapter 2 ! sorry if it's not great~

The next day was better… and worse. 

It wasn’t raining, so immediately, her day started off better than yesterday. The air was clear and the morning felt fresher. She didn’t feel suffocated by the fog or by the constant stares —which have also died down.

On the other hand, she was exhausted beyond belief. She didn’t sleep again what with the wind howling last night. Her Trigonometry teacher singled her out in class, and she got the wrong answer in the midst of her panic. In Gym, she had the unfortunate honor of playing volleyball, and the one time she didn't duck out of the way of the ball, she hit her teammate in the head with it. Worst of all, Edward hadn’t shown up, which further fueled the frustration that had been simmering since the day before.

All morning she had been anticipating lunch, ready to confront him and demand to know what his problem was, but when she walked into the cafeteria with Jessica, she saw that his four siblings of sorts were sitting, Edward nowhere in sight.

Bella huffed quietly to herself, Mike intercepting them, steering them to his table. Jessica seemed elated by the attention, and her friends quickly joined, but as Bella tried to listen to their easy chatter, she sat anxiously, waiting for the moment Edward would arrive. She hoped he would show up so she can sort things out and get an understanding, and maybe get a lecture in on how he shouldn’t judge a book by its cover.

He hadn’t shown up, and as time passed, Bella grew more tense and more irritated. She walked to Biology with Mike, who was taking on the qualities of a golden retriever. The girl held her breath at the door, but Edward Cullen wasn't there, either.

Letting out a slightly angered sigh, she went to her seat. While it was a relief that he wasn’t here to glare her down, she was upset because she wanted to set things straight. She had a fire in her veins.

It was ridiculous that she affected someone that strongly. It angered her, but it also kind of tore at her heart. It wasn’t fair, and it felt pretty horrible to be the reason a person didn’t want to show up. She didn’t even know him, and he was already hating her. 

Ugh, boys.

When the school day was finally done, she climbed into her truck and turned the engine on, ignoring the heads that turned in her direction. She backed carefully into a place in the line of cars that were waiting to exit the parking lot. As she waited, she saw the two Cullens and the Hale twins getting into their car, a shiny Volvo from years ago that still looked in great shape. Of course. 

She hadn't noticed their clothes before, too mesmerized by their faces, but now that she looked, they wore clothes that subtly hinted at designer origins. With their remarkable good looks and the way they carried themselves, they could have worn dishrags and pulled it off.

Their good looks and seemingly wealth was likely one of the reasons they were so isolated. People of a small town like this never interacted with people who appeared rich and beautiful. It was out of their league. In Arizona, people would have been all over the Cullens, dying for their clothes, their beauty routines, their ‘secrets’. Bella supposed that was another difference between here and there.

A part of her felt saddened for them. If she wasn’t so terrified of making a fool of herself, — and wasn’t terrified of upsetting them like she did with Edward— she would happily try and make friends with them. Two odd peas in a pod.

Sighing, the teenager finally left the campus and began to drive to the supermarket to buy some groceries. Charlie was far too busy to make the runs himself, and Bella definitely didn’t mind it, she liked shopping. 

When she got home afterwards, she unloaded all the groceries, clearing out the old and expired food and replacing it with the fresh food.

Bella hummed to herself as she started prepping dinner once she was done. She wrapped potatoes in foil and stuck them in the oven to bake, then covered a steak in marinade and balanced it on top of a carton of eggs in the fridge.

When she was finished with that, she took her book bag upstairs. Before starting her homework, she changed into a pair of basketball shorts, a tank-top and pulled her messy hair up into a wild ponytail. She sat at her computer and checked her email for the first time, surprised to find that she had three messages.

_“Bella, write me as soon as you get in. Tell me how your flight was. Is it raining? I miss you already. I'm almost finished packing for Florida, but I can't find my pink blouse. Do you know where I put it? Phil says hi._ _  
_   
Mom.”

Bella sighed, a swell of emotions bubbling up in her chest as she finally put into thought how much she missed her mother. She went to the next, which was sent eight hours after the first.

_“Bella, why haven't you emailed me yet? What are you waiting for?_

_Mom.”_

And then, the last one from this morning.

  
_“Isabella, if I haven't heard from you by 5:30 p.m. today I'm calling Charlie.”_

Bella sighed once again and shook her head. Just like Reneé, to worry over her daughter. Though, Bella wasn’t upset by it. Reneé knew just how hard this was for her, and she was glad her mother was checking up on her. 

Shaking a loose curl that fell out of her ponytail, Bella began to type up a few replies.   
  
_“Mom, calm down. I'm writing right now. Don't do anything rash._ _  
_   
Bella.”   
  
She sent that, then wrote another one.

  
_“Mom, everything is great._

_Of course it's raining._

_I was waiting for something to write about._

_School isn't bad, just a little repetitive. A lot of the stuff everyone is learning are things that I already learned back home. I met some nice kids who sit by me at lunch, so that’s a win._

_Your blouse is at the dry cleaners - you were supposed to pick it up Friday._

_Charlie bought me a truck, can you believe it? I love it. It's old, but really sturdy, which is good, you know, for me._

_I miss you, too. I'll write again soon, but I'm not going to check my email every five minutes. Relax, breathe :) I love you._ _  
_ _  
_ _Bella.”_   
  
Done with that, Bella decided to read Wuthering Heights - the novel they were currently studying in English - yet again for the fun of it, and that wound up being what she was doing when Charlie came home. She had lost track of the time, and she hurried downstairs to take the potatoes out and put the steak in to broil.

"Bella?" Charlie called out when he heard her on the stairs.

"Hey, Dad, welcome home."

"Thanks." He hung up his gun belt and stepped out of his boots as Bella bustled about the kitchen. 

"What's for dinner?" he asked warily. Reneé was an imaginative cook, and her experiments weren't always edible. Bella was surprised, and sad, that he seemed to remember that far back. It made her wonder what it would have been like if they had been together while she was growing up.

"Steak and potatoes," she answered, and he looked relieved. Though, he seemed to feel awkward standing in the kitchen doing nothing, so he headed into the living room to watch TV while his daughter worked. They were both more comfortable that way, anyway. 

Bella made a salad while the steaks cooked, and set the table. Once dinner was ready, she called him in and he sniffed appreciatively as he walked into the room.

"Smells good, Bell."

She couldn’t stop the slight grin upon receiving the praise, and she shrugged a shoulder, "thanks."

They ate in silence for a few minutes, then Charlie broke the silence.

"So, how did you like school? Have you made any friends?" he asked as he was taking seconds.

"Well, I have a few classes with a girl named Jessica. I sit with her friends at lunch. And there's this boy, Mike, who's very friendly. Everybody seems pretty nice." With one outstanding exception. Just the thought of him had her blood simmering again.

"That must be Mike Newton. Nice kid - nice family. His dad owns the sporting goods store just outside of town. He makes a good living off all the backpackers who come through here." Charlie explained as he sat back down.

"Do you know the Cullen family?" She asked hesitantly.

"Dr. Cullen's family? Sure. Dr. Cullen's a great man."

"They... the kids... are a little different. They don't seem to fit in very well at school."

Charlie rolled his eyes as he stabbed a potato. "People in this town," he muttered, taking a moment to speak before eating it, "Dr. Cullen is a brilliant surgeon who could probably work in any hospital in the world, make ten times the salary he gets here," he continued, getting louder. "We're lucky to have him - lucky that his wife wanted to live in a small town. He's an asset to the community, and all of those kids are well behaved and polite. I had my doubts, when they first moved in, with all those adopted teenagers. I thought we might have some problems with them. But they're all very mature - I haven't had one speck of trouble from any of them. That's more than I can say for the children of some folks who have lived in this town for generations. And they stick together the way a family should - camping trips every other weekend... Just because they're newcomers, people have to talk." He told her.

Bella blinked in surprise, having not expected that to come out of his mouth.

She nodded, shrugging a shoulder, "they seemed nice enough to me. I just noticed they kept to themselves. They're all very attractive, though." she added. She didn’t want to bring up her drama with Edward, not when she, herself, didn’t know anything about it.

"You should see the doctor," Charlie said, laughing. "It's a good thing he's happily married. A lot of the nurses at the hospital have a hard time concentrating on their work with him around." He said that and Bella perked a brow curiously. She knew her father and his likes from the stories Reneé had told her, so she knew that the nurses weren’t the only ones that had an attraction to him. That idea amused her. 

They lapsed back into silence as they finished eating. He cleared the table while Bella started on the dishes. He went back to the TV, and after Bella finished washing the dishes by hand, she went upstairs unwillingly to work on her math homework.

That night it was finally quiet, and she fell asleep quickly, exhausted...

The rest of the week was uneventful. Bella got used to the routine of her classes. By Friday, she was able to recognize, if not name, almost all the students at school. In Gym, the kids on Bella’s team learned not to pass her the ball and to step quickly in front of her if the other team tried to take advantage of her weakness. She happily stayed out of their way.

Edward Cullen didn't come back to school, though.

While she was still upset about him and his behavior, she was slowly moving on from it.

Every day, Bella watched anxiously until the rest of the Cullens entered the cafeteria without him, then she would relax and join in the lunchtime conversation. Mostly it centered around a trip to the La Push Ocean Park in two weeks that Mike was putting together. Bella was invited, and she eagerly took the offer. She loved going to the beach during her summer trips to California. She doubted there would be any sun, but she still liked the idea of going.

By Friday, Bella was perfectly comfortable entering her Biology class, no longer worried that Edward would be there. For all she knew, he had dropped out of school. She tried not to think about him, but she couldn't entirely suppress the anxiousness and even guilt that she was responsible for his continued absence, ridiculous as it seemed.

Her first weekend in Forks passed without incident. Charlie, unused to spending time in the usually empty house, worked most of the weekend. 

Bella cleaned the house, got ahead on her homework, and wrote her mom more emails. She did drive to the library Saturday, but it was so poorly stocked that she didn't bother to get a card; resigning to herself, she knew she would have to make a date to visit Olympia or Seattle soon and find a good bookstore. 

The rain stayed soft over the weekend, quiet, so she was able to sleep well.

People greeted Bella in the parking lot Monday morning, and it made her feel warm inside. She didn't know all their names, but she waved back and smiled at everyone. 

It was colder that morning, but thankfully not raining. 

In English, Mike took his accustomed seat by Bella’s side. They had a pop quiz on Wuthering Heights. It was straightforward, very easy, especially for her since she read the book nearly a thousand times.

All in all, Bella was feeling a lot more comfortable than she had thought she would feel by this point. More comfortable than she had ever expected to feel here. It took her by surprise, but she didn’t hate it.

When they walked out of class, the air was full of swirling bits of white. She could hear people shouting excitedly to each other. The wind bit at her cheeks and nose, and she huffed, her breath coming out in fogs of heat.

"Wow," Mike said. "It's snowing."

Bella looked at the little cotton fluffs that were building up along the sidewalk and swirling erratically past her face, and scrunched her nose in distaste.

"Ew." Snow. There went her good day.

He looked surprised. "Don't you like snow?"

"No. That means it's too cold for rain. Besides, I thought it was supposed to come down in flakes - you know, each one unique and all that. These just look like the ends of Q-tips."

"Haven't you ever seen snow fall before?" he asked incredulously.

"Sure I have." she paused. "On TV."

Mike laughed, and then a big, squishy ball of dripping snow smacked into the back of his head.

Bella jumped and they both turned to see where it came from. She had her suspicions about Eric, who was walking away, his back toward them - in the wrong direction for his next class. Mike apparently had the same notion. He bent over and began scraping together a pile of the white mush.

"I'll see you at lunch, okay?" She kept walking as she spoke. "Once people start throwing wet stuff, I go inside." She did not want to get caught up in that mess.

He just nodded, his eyes on Eric's retreating figure.

Throughout the morning, everyone excitedly raved about the snow; apparently it was the first snowfall of the new year. Bella kept her mouth shut. She didn’t want to ruin their fun.

She walked warily to the cafeteria with Jessica after Spanish. Snowballs were flying everywhere. Bella kept a binder in her hands, ready to use it as a shield if necessary. 

Mike caught up to them as they walked in the doors, laughing, with ice melting the spikes in his hair. He and Jessica were talking animatedly about the snow fight as they got in line to buy food. Bella glanced towards that table in the corner out of habit, and then she froze where she stood. There were five people at the table.

Jessica pulled on Bella’s arm, dragging her out of her panicked trance.

"Hello? Bella? What do you want?"

She looked down, and her ears were hot. She had no reason to feel self-conscious, she hadn't done anything wrong.

"What's with Bella?" Mike asked Jessica.

"Nothing," Bella answered. "I'll just get a soda today." She caught up to the end of the line.

"Aren't you hungry?" Jessica asked.

"Actually, I feel a little sick," she said, her eyes still on the floor, and it wasn’t exactly a lie. Her stomach was tight and knotted with anxiety and the resurfacing anger.

She waited for them to get their food, and then followed them to a table, her eyes on her feet. She sipped her soda slowly, unable to curb the anxiety. Twice Mike asked how she was feeling. She told him it was nothing, but she could feel the frustration brewing up again. It was taking everything in her power not to stand up, march over and do what she intended to do on the second day of school. 

She took deep breaths, then decided to permit herself one glance at the Cullen family's table. If he was glaring at her, she would confront him.

She took a quick glance and nearly sagged in her chair in relief when none of them were looking her way. Okay, the coast was clear. Confident, Bella lifted her head. She studied them now, and they were laughing. Edward, Jasper, and Emmett all had their hair entirely saturated with melting snow. Alice and Rosalie were leaning away as Emmett shook his dripping hair toward them like a dog. They were enjoying the snowy day, just like everyone else - only they looked more like a scene from a movie than the rest of them.

Aside from the laughter and playfulness, there was something different, and Bella couldn't quite pinpoint what that difference was. She examined Edward the most carefully. His skin was less pale, the circles under his eyes much less noticeable, but there was something more. She pondered, staring, trying to isolate the change.

"Bella, what are you staring at?" Jessica intruded, her eyes following Bella stare.

At that precise moment, his eyes flashed over to meet Bella’s. She bit back a squeak as she dropped her head, letting her untamed curls fall to conceal her reddening face. She was sure, though, in the instant their eyes met, that he didn't look harsh or unfriendly as he had the last time she had seen him. He looked merely curious again, unsatisfied in some way. 

"Edward Cullen is staring at you." Jessica giggled in her ear.

"He doesn't look angry, does he?" She couldn't help asking, wanting to know if she should make a scene or not. If it weren’t obvious, she was a very confrontational person, a trait she got from her mother. They were both strong-headed, but had the temper of a bull. 

"No," she said, sounding confused by Bella’s question. "Should he be?"

"I don't think he likes me," she confided, she still felt queasy and maybe even a little hurt. She put her head down on her arm, and sighed.

"The Cullens don't like anybody... well, they don't notice anybody enough to like them. But he's still staring at you."

"Stop looking at him," Bella hissed.

Jessica snickered, but she looked away. Bella raised her head enough to make sure that she did, contemplating violence if she resisted.

Mike interrupted them then - he was planning an epic battle of the blizzard in the parking lot after school and wanted them to join. Jessica agreed enthusiastically. The way she looked at Mike left little doubt that she would be up for anything he suggested. Bella found that cute. She kept silent about the battle, though. Snow was not her thing. Rain wasn’t even her thing. She would have to hide in the gym until the parking lot cleared.

For the rest of the lunch period, Bella very carefully kept her eyes at her own table. She decided she would go to Biology and **not** pick a fight. If he wasn’t upset, then there would be no reason for her to bring up his behavior. 

She still felt anxious though, and she hoped it would go away soon. 

She didn't really want to walk to class with Mike as usual - he seemed to be a popular target for the snowball snipers - but when they went to the door, everyone besides her groaned in unison. It was raining, washing all traces of the snow away in clear, icy ribbons down the side of the walkway. Bella hid a grin and pulled her hood up, secretly pleased. She would be free to go straight home after Gym.

Once inside the classroom, Bella saw with relief that her table was still empty. Mr. Banner was walking around the room, distributing one microscope and box of slides to each table. Class didn't start for a few minutes, and the room buzzed with conversation. Bella kept her eyes away from the door, doodling idly on the cover of her notebook.

Bella heard the chair next to her move, but her eyes stayed carefully focused on the pattern she was drawing. She was repeating her ‘don’t look’ mantra until…  


"Hello," said a quiet, musical voice.

  
Her head shot up, brown eyes wide with genuine surprise that he was speaking to her. He was sitting as far away from her as the desk allowed, but his chair was angled toward her. Okay, maybe he was really into personal space, she understood that. 

His hair was dripping wet, disheveled - even so, he looked like he had just finished shooting a commercial for hair gel. His dazzling face was friendly, open, a slight smile on his flawless lips, but his eyes were careful.

"My name is Edward Cullen," he continued. "I didn't have a chance to introduce myself last week. You must be Bella Ortiz." He assumed.

Her mind was spinning, utterly confused by how polite he was behaving. What even happened to him last week to make him so upset? Was it just a bad day for him?

She was astounded, astounded enough that she simply blurted the first non-antagonistic thing that came to mind.

"How do you know my name?" 

He laughed a soft, enchanting laugh, and she swore up and down that her heart stopped. There was no way this guy existed, there was no way this was happening. He didn’t seem real.

"Oh, I think everyone knows your name. The whole town's been waiting for you to arrive."

She grimaced. She knew it was something like that, but that wasn’t what she meant. 

"No," she sighed, "I mean, why did you call me **Bella**?"

He seemed confused. "Do you prefer Isabella?"

"N-No, I like Bella!" She was quick to correct him, "but I think my dad must call me Isabella behind my back, that's what everyone here seems to know me as," she tried to explain.

"Oh. I see." He replied.

Thankfully, Mr. Banner started class at that moment. Bella let out a slow sigh and tried to concentrate as he explained the lab they would be doing today. The slides in the box were out of order. Working as lab partners, they had to separate the slides of onion root tip cells into the phases of mitosis they represented and label them accordingly. They weren't supposed to use their books. In twenty minutes, he would be coming around to see who had it right.

"Get started," he commanded.

"Ladies first, partner?" Edward asked.

Bella couldn’t help the snort that left her and she looked up to see him smiling a bright, crooked smile so beautiful, it rivaled the sun.

"Or I could start, if you wish." The smile faded, worried he was overstepping when she didn’t respond for a moment.

"N-No," she rushed, cheeks red. "I'll go ahead. Sorry." She mumbled, then she got to work.

She was showing off, just a little. She had already done this lab, so she knew what she was looking for. It should be easy. 

Bella snapped the first slide into place under the microscope and adjusted it quickly to the 40X objective. She studied the slide briefly.

Her assessment was confident. "Prophase."

"Do you mind if I look?" he asked as she began to remove the slide. His hand caught hers, to stop her, as he asked. His fingers were freezing, like he had been holding them in a snowdrift before class. 

Bella let out a squeak and jumped, flinching, but not from the cold. When he touched her, it had felt electric.

"I'm sorry," he muttered, pulling his hand back immediately. However, he continued to reach for the microscope. 

She nodded as she watched him, still stunned, as he examined the slide for an even shorter time than she had.

"Prophase," he agreed, writing it neatly in the first space on their worksheet, and she recovered, smirking with a soft ‘told you.’ 

He swiftly switched out the first slide for the second, and then glanced at it.

"Anaphase," he murmured, writing it down as he spoke.

She gestured to it, "may I?" Did she just start a competition? Maybe.

He smirked and pushed the microscope to her.

Bella looked through the eyepiece eagerly, only to be disappointed. He was right.

"Slide three?" She held out her hand without looking at him, like a surgeon asking for the scalpel.

He handed it to her, careful not to touch her skin again.

She took the most fleeting look she could manage. "Interphase." She passed him the microscope before he could ask for it. He took a swift peek, and then wrote it down. She would have written it while he looked, but his clear, elegant script intimidated her. Her handwriting was a mess of cursive and bubbly letters.

They were finished before anyone else was close. Bella could see Mike and his partner comparing two slides again and again, and another group had their book open under the table.

That left Bella with nothing to do but try to not look at him... unsuccessfully. She glanced up, and he was staring at her, that same inexplicable look of frustration in his eyes. 

She narrowed her eyes, suddenly identifying that subtle difference in his face.

"Did you get contacts?" She blurted out before she could stop herself.

He seemed puzzled by her unexpected question. "No."

"Oh," she mumbled. "I thought there was something different about your eyes."

He shrugged, and looked away.

In fact, she was sure there was something different. She vividly remembered the flat black color of his eyes the last time he'd glared at her - the color was striking against the background of his pale skin and his auburn hair. Today, his eyes were a completely different color: an amber, almost gold. She didn't understand how that could be, unless he was lying for some reason about the contacts, or maybe Forks was making her crazy in the literal sense of the word.

She looked down. His hands were clenched into hard fists again.

Mr. Banner came to their table then, to see why they weren't working. He looked over their shoulders to glance at the completed lab, and then stared more intently to check the answers.

"So, Edward, didn't you think Isabella should get a chance with the microscope?" Mr. Banner asked.

"Bella," Edward corrected automatically. "Actually, she identified three of the five."

Mr. Banner looked at Bella now; his expression was skeptical.

"Have you done this lab before?" he asked.

She smiled sheepishly. "Not with onion root."

"Whitefish blastula?"

"Yeah."

Mr. Banner nodded. "Were you in an advanced placement program in Phoenix?"

"Yes."

"Well," he said after a moment, "I guess it's good you two are lab partners." He mumbled something else as he walked away. After he left, Bella began doodling on her notebook again.

"It's too bad about the snow, isn't it?" Edward asked. She had the feeling that he was forcing himself to make small talk with her, though that was her anxiety speaking. Her logical side was telling her that he was making up for last week.

"Not really," she answered honestly, finally looking over to him, and he seemed genuinely curious. Maybe he was determined to fix what happened last time.

"You don't like the cold." It wasn't a question.

"Or the wet."

"Forks must be a difficult place for you to live," he mused.

"You have no idea," she huffed with a roll of her eyes.

He looked fascinated by what she said. His face was such a distraction that she tried not to look at it any more than courtesy absolutely demanded.

"Why did you come here, then?"

No one had asked her that - not straight out like he did, demanding.

"It's... complicated."

"I think I can keep up," he pressed.

Bella paused for a long moment, and then made the mistake of meeting his gaze. His dark gold eyes confused her, and she answered without thinking.

"My mother got remarried," she said.

"That doesn't sound so complex," he disagreed, but he was suddenly sympathetic. "When did that happen?"

"Last September." She sighed, and if she was honest, she kind of was sad. She never got to really see what Charlie and Reneé were like, and part of her never really understood why they fell apart. Too many stories. 

"And you don't like him," Edward surmised, his tone still kind.

"No, Phil is fine. Too young, maybe, but nice enough."

"Why didn't you stay with them?"

She couldn't fathom his interest, but he continued to stare at her with penetrating eyes, as if her dull life's story was somehow vitally important.

"Phil travels a lot. He plays ball for a living." She shrugged a shoulder.

"Have I heard of him?" he asked, smiling in response.

"Probably not. He doesn't play well. Strictly minor league. He moves around a lot."

"And your mother sent you here so that she could travel with him." He said it as an assumption again, not a question.

She shook her head, "no, she did not send me here. I sent myself."

His eyebrows knit together. "I don't understand," he admitted, and he seemed unnecessarily frustrated by that fact.

She sighed, and he continued to stare at her with obvious curiosity.

"She stayed with me at first, but she missed him. It made her unhappy... so I decided it was time to spend some quality time with Charlie." Her voice was glum by the time she finished.

"But now you're unhappy," he pointed out.

"And?" She challenged.

"That doesn't seem fair." He shrugged, but his eyes were still intense.

She laughed without humor. "Hasn't anyone ever told you? Life isn't fair."

"I believe I have heard that somewhere before," he agreed dryly.

"So that's all," she insisted, wondering why he was still staring at her that way.

His gaze became appraising. "You put on a good show," he said slowly. "But I'd be willing to bet that you're suffering more than you let anyone see."

She grimaced at him, resisting the impulse to stick out her tongue like a five-year-old, and looked away.

"Am I wrong?"

She tried to ignore him.

"I didn't think so," he murmured smugly.

"Why does it matter to you?" She asked, irritated. She kept her eyes away, watching the teacher make his rounds.

"That's a very good question," he muttered, so quietly that she wondered if he was talking to himself. However, after a few seconds of silence, she decided that was the only answer she was going to get.

She sighed, scowling at the blackboard.

"Am I annoying you?" he asked. He sounded amused.

She glanced at him and deflated. "Not exactly. I'm more annoyed at myself. My face is so easy to read - my mother always calls me her open book." She frowned.

"On the contrary, I find you very difficult to read." Despite everything that she said and he had guessed, he sounded like he meant it.

"You must be a good reader then," she replied.

"Usually." He smiled widely, flashing a set of perfect, ultra white teeth. Wow, this guy was just all around perfect, wasn’t he?

Mr. Banner called the class to order then, and Bella turned with relief to listen. She was in disbelief that she had just explained her dreary life to this bizarre, beautiful boy who may or may not despise her. He had seemed engrossed in their conversation, but now she could see, from the corner of her eye, that he was leaning away from her again, his hands gripping the edge of the table with unmistakable tension.

Bella tried to appear attentive as Mr. Banner illustrated with transparencies on the overhead projector what Bella had seen without difficulty through the microscope, but her thoughts were a mess.

When the bell finally rang, Edward rushed as swiftly and as gracefully from the room as he had last Monday, and, like last Monday, Bella stared after him in amazement.

Mike skipped quickly to Bella’s side and picked up her books for her. She could imagine him with a wagging tail.

"That was awful," he groaned. "They all looked exactly the same. You're lucky you had Cullen for a partner."

"I didn't have any trouble with it," she said, shrugging, “I've done the lab before, though."

"Cullen seemed friendly enough today," he commented. He didn't seem pleased about it.

“Yeah, I’m still not sure what’s up with him, but honestly, I’ll take it over whatever last Monday was.” She admitted. 

After Gym, the rain was just a mist as Bella walked to the parking lot, but she was happier when she was in the dry cab. She got the heater running, for once not caring about the mind-numbing roar of the engine. She unzipped her jacket, put the hood down, and fluffed her damp curly hair out so the heater could dry it on the way home.

She looked around to make sure it was clear, and noticed the still, white figure. Edward Cullen was leaning against the front door of the Volvo, three cars down from her, and staring intently in her direction. 

Bella sucked in a breath and swiftly looked away, throwing the truck into reverse, almost hitting a rusty Toyota Corolla in her haste. Lucky for the Toyota, Bella stomped on the brake in time. She took a deep breath, still looking out the other side of her car, and cautiously pulled out again, with greater success. She stared straight ahead as she passed the Volvo, but from a peripheral peek, she swore she saw him laughing.


End file.
